Once we had travelled a little bit further east, I was able to pick up the scent of the nest, which allowed us to find it relatively easily. There were two guards at the entrance. I’m the only party member really made for sneak attacks, so I snuck up to the entrance and waited for the perfect moment.

  While one of them had moved away to the side to urinate, I slit the other’s throat. Unfortunately, the first one finished quicker than I expected and turned round… it panicked and threw a rock at me… the rock hit me in the nose, but as it did, Agaroth smashed the goblin in the back of the head with his flail, killing it instantly.

  Kiyui: “You, ok?”

  Phoenix: “That looked painful.”

  I took my cowl off and blood was dripping from my nose. I am very out of practice with up close fighting. I should have just used my bow.

  Dwynfel: “It hurts a bit, but I’ll be ok.”

  Agaroth presented me with the loin cloth of the guard he killed.

  Agaroth: “Best get on with it then.”

  Urgh… I feel so exposed. Wearing nothing but a loin cloth feels so undignified. I miss my armour.

  Phoenix: “You are going to need to cover yourself in mud and blood to mask the scent of that bath you took.”

  This just gets worse. Agaroth cut off the hand of the goblin next to him and passed it to me so I could smear the blood on myself. Kiyui gathered a pile of mud and started rubbing it on my legs.

  This disguise is disgusting… I can’t stand it… I don’t want to do this… I don’t want to go in there… what if I go in there and I never come back… what if I like what I find… what if I lose myself in there…

  Dwynfel: “Ah… that’s enough Kiyui…”

  He was getting way higher up my thigh than I was comfortable with.

  Kiyui: “Ok.”

  Dwynfel: “It just needs to be enough to mask the scent. And whatever you do, stay hidden. They could smell you from a mile away with that apple scent in your hair.”

  I say that… I can’t smell anything other than my own blood right now… fuck, my nose hurts. Phoenix handed me the knives that she had taken from the goblin I had killed.

  Phoenix: “I am afraid that your daggers are a bit too conspicuous.”

  Dwynfel: “Good point, thanks.”

  Kiyui: “Are you ready for this?”

  Dwynfel: “Not even remotely… but I guess I don’t have much choice.”

  The others returned to the bushes as I entered the cave. Entering the cave brought too many memories to the forefront of my mind… walking past the totems and the skulls that are positioned to scare away adventurers… seeing goblins devouring raw animal meat… human meat… none of the human meat I saw them devouring on my way through was small enough to be that of a child though. They mustn’t have been back long. It probably took them a while to return if they were having to carry everything.

  It would be a lot easier to track this girl down if that goblin hadn’t hit my nose. I grabbed a piece of leg from one of the corpses that a group of goblins were devouring… figured it would lend credibility to my disguise. When I was carrying it, I was glad that my sense of smell was damaged… rotting flesh is not a pleasant smell.

  Eventually, I heard screams, the screams of a woman. I could only hear one voice… so it must be her. This nest must be relatively recently formed… they haven’t had time to amass a group of females. That’s good news… means there will be fewer goblins. Bad news for her if we fail though… it makes her their only play thing… death would be preferable.

  Eventually, I found the room that the screams were coming from. I say room… the little cavern that they had blocked off with a rudimentary bit of wood masquerading as a door.

  The fact there was a guard outside was a good sign… it meant I was in the right place. I attempted to enter, but the guard stopped me.

  Guard: “Cut Tooth turn… not you!”

  Dwynfel: “Cut Tooth want food… energy… fuck longer!”

  The guard laughed and waved me in. I really didn’t expect that to work. Good thing I picked up that bit of leg earlier. The screams got louder the deeper as I went into the room.

  Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

  Fortunately, for me… and rather unfortunately for Katheryn… this Cut Tooth was so preoccupied with her that he didn’t even notice me. This was exactly the kind of room my mother was kept in… she was chained in just the same way… raped by goblins again and again and again… I’m starting to feel sick… and angry… really fucking angry.

  I drew one of the knives that Phoenix had given me and I slit his throat with it. The blood sprayed everywhere… all over Katheryn, who was absolutely terrified. His body slumped to the ground and I stabbed him… I just kept stabbing him… I couldn’t stop myself… I don’t know how many times I stabbed him… but eventually the blade snapped and I just started crying.

  Katheryn looked at me with a mix of terror and confusion. I doubt she has ever seen a goblin cry before. I gathered myself as best I could and spoke to her in the softest tone that I could muster.

  Dwynfel: “I have no intention of hurting you… but please… I need you to keep screaming or the guard with get suspicious.”

  She looked even more confused at what I had said… but she listened and began screaming again. I stood up and threw the broken dagger down on the floor.

  Suddenly something grabbed me and wrapped itself around me. Whatever it was, it was smaller than me, which is a rare thing. I wiped my eyes and looked down to see a mop of ginger hair. A girl? Was Katheryn travelling with a girl? But… this girl is too young… why would they keep a girl of this age in here? They should be making use of her as a slave somewhere.

  Dwynfel: “Don’t stop screaming, just nod or shake your head… is this your child?”

  Katheryn shook her head. Then where did this child come from? I don’t understand. I unclasped the child’s hands from around my hips and bent down so I could talk to her. She took a couple of steps back… that’s when I saw it… this isn’t a girl… it’s a boy… I panicked and grabbed his shoulders.

  Dwynfel: “Listen, child… this is very important… how many children were taken with you?”

  The child stood motionless… I must have scared him… shit… I noticed a fresh tattoo on his chest.

  Dwynfel: “Lady Katheryn… is he from the orphanage?”

  She nodded… still screaming.

  Dwynfel: “You can stop screaming… how many children were taken… including him?”

  Katheryn: “Ten.”

  Dwynfel: “You sure?”

  Katheryn: “Yes… you have to rescue them!”

  Dwynfel: “When was the last one taken from this room?”

  Katheryn: “Not long ago.”

  Dwynfel: “Then we need to get out of here… now.”

  Katheryn: “We need to save the children.”

  Dwynfel: “They’re already dead… we need to get this child out of here… right now!”

  I heard the door open… shit… I got distracted… I shouldn’t have said she could stop screaming… the guard is coming in. I drew the other knife and waited for him at the side of the door. I swiftly sliced his throat open and threw his spear to Katheryn.

  Katheryn: “I can’t use this.”

  Dwynfel: “Then you better hope you don’t have to… we need to leave… now!”

  Katheryn: “Maybe I should be raising this spear to you… is this some kind of goblin trick?”

  Dwynfel: “I’m not part of this nest… I’m an adventurer and we don’t have time for this.”

  Katheryn: “Goblin’s aren’t adventurers!”

  Dwynfel: “I lied on my registration form… if you want to stay, then stay… but I need to get this child out of here right now!”

  Us getting out of here is going to take a miracle. Me in an ill-fitting loin cloth with one knife… backed up by a naked woman with a goblin’s spear… and trying to protect a naked boy with no combat skill whatsoever.

  I wish I was within range for connected voice to work… then I could at least prepare my friends for what’s coming… I hate when we have to split up like this. This is not going as planned. I bent down to speak to the boy.

  Dwynfel: “I’m going to need you to be very brave for me right now.”

  The boy nodded… still crying.

  Dwynfel: “What’s your name.”

  Boy: “Tad… Tadwick Featherstone.”

  Dwynfel: “How old are you?”

  Tadwick: “Umm…”

  He counted on his fingers.

  Tadwick: “…four.”

  I handed the boy a rock that I found on the floor.

  Dwynfel: “Ok, Tadwick… this person here is the lady Katheryn of Kataravonia… she is a very important lady… it is our duty to protect her… so I need you to be a brave boy and keep a look out for any goblins you see that aren’t me. Ok?”

  The boy nodded furiously. If he doesn’t keep his head then this will be a lot more difficult… giving him a job to focus on should help.

  Katheryn: “You can’t expect him to do that?”

  Dwynfel: “Either we all work together or we never get out of here and he is the only one of us that they can’t harm… at least not yet.”

  Katheryn: “What the hell does that mean?”

  Dwynfel: “He’s a sacrifice… They can’t harm the sacrifice before the ritual… I’ll explain once we get outside, but from here on, we need to be silent… understand?”